Speak When You're Spoken To Lyrics
A four-line list of old-fashioned manners: speak when someone talks to you, come when called, shut the door behind you, and turn to the wall.
Speak When You're Spoken To
Speak when you're spoken to,
Come when one call;
Shut the door after you,
And turn to the wall!
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/speak-when-youre-spoken-to/
- Type
- Mother Goose
- Tune
- Spoken rhyme
- Best for ages
- 3 to 8 years
What Does Speak When You're Spoken To Mean?
The rhyme is a set of rules for children from long ago. Speaking only when spoken to and coming when called were seen as good manners. "Shut the door after you" is still a rule in many homes. "Turn to the wall" probably means stand quietly and wait, or face the corner as a small punishment, which is how it was used in old schoolrooms.
History and Origin
James Orchard Halliwell printed it in The Nursery Rhymes of England. "Speak when you're spoken to" became a well-known saying about how children were expected to behave, and the Red Queen uses it in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass (1871).
Learning Activities
- Then and now: talk about which of the four rules your family still uses.
- Door game: practice coming when called and closing the door quietly.
- New rules: make up a four-line manners rhyme for today.